


Just Like A Movie

by WandaHart



Category: Metallica
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Awkwardness, Cliff is a nice boy, Crushes, First Kiss, Fluff, French Fries, I had waaay too much fun writing Lars, I'll be adding more tags as I post, James and Lars are lowkey dumb, Just so I don't spoiler anything, M/M, Tutor Kirk, jock jason, very cliche
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:47:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23658589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WandaHart/pseuds/WandaHart
Summary: Ah, a classic love story between the school's most popular jock and the school's most unpopular geek. A tale of meddling teachers, impossible math, annoying friends, french fries, and nerves.
Relationships: Kirk Hammett/Jason Newsted
Comments: 32
Kudos: 49





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Metallica story, so I hope it's not too awful! It took me a lot of editing and rewriting to get this to where I'm happy with the plot so I hope you enjoy! Feel free to leave comments. They're super helpful since I'm still kinda new to this whole writing thing. Thanks for reading!

Kirk sighed softly as he doodled aimlessly in his notebook. The clock on the wall revealed that there was still about fifteen minutes of his math class left to suffer through. 

Ms. Dayton, Kirk’s math teacher, was at the front of the room explaining imaginary numbers to the class for the fourth time this week. And it was only _Wednesday_. Kirk had understood the concept perfectly the first time and was bored with the slow pace Ms. Dayton was forced to adopt for the sake of the rest of the class. Now, he had been left to keep himself occupied for the duration of the class period.

Just as Kirk was scribbling the finishing touches on his half-decayed zombie, the bell rang signaling the end of class. Kirk hurriedly shut his notebook and shoved it in his backpack. He was anxious to get to lunch and discuss the latest comic book he had loaned to Lars. James had originally been the one to want to read it but, as usual, Lars refused to be left out. Lars hadn’t even let Kirk and James _mention_ the comic “until he was finished reading it or died”. It had taken Lars a whole week to finish it so yeah, Kirk was pretty excited to go nerd out with his friends over Batman.

“Kirk?” Ms. Dayton called out as Kirk approached the door to leave the classroom.

Kirk looked over at her nervously and she beckoned him over to her. She had never wanted to talk to him after class before and Kirk worried that maybe she had caught him not paying attention in class. He hesitantly walked toward her, all thoughts of lunchroom chatter leaving his mind.

Ms. Dayton smiled at him widely as he approached her desk. Maybe he wasn’t in trouble after all. “Kirk, I just wanted to talk to you really quickly about a wonderful idea I had!”

Her excitement made Kirk uneasy. He shifted on his feet and fiddled with the straps of his backpack.

Ms. Dayton was one of the nicest and most beautiful teachers Kirk had ever had. All the boys in the school prayed to get her for math, not only for her lenient grading but for her good looks as well. She was pretty young for a teacher and had curly blonde hair and rosy cheeks. Kirk found her beauty to be a bit intimidating a first, but she truly was a very kind woman and he would most definitely have a crush on her too if he, y'know, was into the female sex.

“Well, you might be aware of this already,” she continued on, “but you have the highest grade out of all my classes this year.”

Kirk shrugged in reply and stared down at her red stilettos. He didn’t know where she was going with all of this, but her praise was making him uncomfortable. He never really took compliments well. He couldn’t ever really think of how to respond. Thankfully, Ms. Dayton was able to sense this and rushed to finish her proposition.

“Anyways, I’ll just cut to the chase. I have a student in my second period class that could really use some help with math. His name is Jason. I think you two would get along really well! He has to keep his grades up since he plays sports. It would only be on Thursdays after school for a couple of hours. I’m not allowed to pay you, but you could get some service hours for an honors society or something!”

Kirk finally looked up to meet her gaze. She looked hopeful and Kirk felt guilty for his apprehension. Kirk already had a job. A job that actually paid too. Sure, he wasn’t making much at Wendy’s, but it was more than nothing. And at Wendy’s he didn’t have to spend two hours teaching some stranger basic algebra skills.

“I’m not in any honors societies,” he protested lamely.

“How about extra credit then?” Ms. Dayton was quick to find a solution. Kirk just couldn’t figure out how to say no to her.

“Okay. I guess I can try to help,” Kirk agreed half-heartedly, already regretting his decision.

“Thank you so much Kirk! I’ll tell Jason to meet you in the library tomorrow at 2:30.”

_Oh god, what had he just agreed to?_

****

The next afternoon Kirk waited impatiently for Jason to show up in the library for their tutoring session. He had taken a seat at an empty table towards the back of the library and had pulled out his math textbook and any other worksheets or notes he thought might be of use. He didn’t know exactly what he would need to go over or who he was even tutoring at this point. There were a couple Jasons that Kirk knew of at the school and Ms. Dayton hadn’t given him a last name. He silently hoped it would be Jason Reily, a kid who was just as geeky and shy as he was. At least then it would be awkward for both of them.

About two minutes later, just when Kirk was starting to worry that he had gotten the time and place wrong, _he_ walked in. He being Jason Newsted.

_Oh shit _. Kirk’s breathing grew heavier as it dawned on him which Jason he would be tutoring in math. _Why did it have to be Jason Newsted?___

____

____

Jason Newsted was arguably one of the coolest, hottest, and most charming guys in school and Kirk had to tutor him in math. Kirk, with his jacked-up teeth and scrawny body. Kirk, with his inch-thick glasses and stupid curly hair. Kirk, with all these imperfections had to tutor the perfectly perfect Jason Newsted. Jason liked sports and Kirk liked comic books. Jason dated cheerleaders and Kirk collected action figures. This was not going to work. Kirk just knew it.

Kirk contemplated hiding under the table before Jason could notice him and realize that Kirk was sat there waiting for him. He didn’t get the chance to do so though because Jason’s gaze quickly locked on Kirk and he started walking towards him. Jason beamed at Kirk, showing off his gorgeous smile as he approached the table.

“Hey, are you Kirk?”

Kirk tried to ignore the painful thumping of his heart trying to beat out of his chest. He swallowed thickly. “Yeah,” he responded in a hushed voice. That was all he could muster. He worried that he was so quiet Jason wouldn’t hear him. That happened in class sometimes and he was always so mortified when the teacher asked him to speak up or asked him to repeat himself.

Jason plopped down in the seat next to him. “I’m Jason.

“I know,” said Kirk. He blushed a little. That was a stupid thing to say.

It was true though. Kirk had sat behind Jason in chemistry last year and had fawned over the boy every class period. His class notes were littered with little drawings of the back of Jason’s head and hearts. It stung a little that Jason didn’t know who he was, but it wasn’t surprising to Kirk. He was a nobody. The school janitor was probably more popular than him.

“Oh,” Jason said, “okay.” Jason seemed unbothered by this fact. Kirk figured it was because everyone knew who Jason Newsted was.

“So, um,” Kirk started, eager to move past the awkward small talk and break the silence that had fallen between them, “what do you need help with?

Now it was Jason’s turn to look uncomfortable. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a stack of papers. “Everything? These are all my old tests. I figured we could start with these. If that’s okay with you of course.” Jason slid the papers across the table to Kirk.

Kirk picked up the pile of tests and tried his best to keep any emotion off his face as he took in Jason’s extremely low grades. The highest score he had received was a 62%. This was going to be harder than Kirk had anticipated not only because of Jason’s apparent struggle with math but because Kirk didn’t know how he was supposed to concentrate when Jason was so close to him. Sitting behind him in chemistry, Kirk had never been able to take notice of the light spattering of freckles across Jason’s nose or the pale icy blue color of his eyes. Fuck, this was going to be impossible.

However, through extreme perseverance and the sheer boringness of math, Kirk was able to work through the first failed test with Jason. He went over the mistakes that Jason had made and together they worked through and solved the problems together. It took a while, but Jason seemed to be grasping what Kirk taught him. Sometimes he needed Kirk to explain things again, but for the most part Kirk was pleased with what they had accomplished.

“We can be done today,” Kirk said after they finished going through the test. They still had technically another half hour to work, but Kirk could see that Jason was getting tired and losing focus. He felt it was best to just stop where they were.

Jason wholeheartedly agreed and packed up his belongings quickly. He waved at Kirk and booked it out of the library. Kirk frowned. Jason hadn’t said a single meaningful thing to Kirk and his silent goodbye had almost been kind of rude. So why did Kirk feel butterflies forming in the pit of his stomach as he watched the other boy go?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is pretty short, but I really didn't feel I could include it with the next one. As always, I hope you enjoy and thanks for reading!

The next couple of weeks continued without much change. Kirk continued to simultaneously drool over and tutor Jason after school on Thursdays. Jason seemed to warm up to the study sessions and had even cracked a few jokes here and there, eliciting muffled giggles that Kirk tried to hide behind his hands. Needless to say, Kirk’s crush on Jason had not wavered.

His crush didn’t go unnoticed either. Lars and James were surprisingly quick to notice something different about Kirk. The way he zoned out at lunch and in band rehearsals and the dopey grins he sported whilst doing so were red flags to the other boys. Something was up. It wasn’t until Cliff, their older and much wiser friend, was asked his opinion about Kirk’s new behavior that an answer was found.

“What do you think he’s thinking about?” Lars said, nudging James with his elbow and nodding towards Kirk. “He’s doing it again.”

“Doing what?” Cliff interrupted, walking back into Lars’s basement. James and Lars were sat on the sofa opposite of Kirk who was currently tuning his guitar and staring off into space. A soft smile graced his face. Cliff had returned from fetching soda and snacks for the guys to all munch on during their break from band rehearsal. 

“He’s always tuning out like that,” James said, motioning towards Kirk. “He’s always got that weird look on his face too.”

“Cliff, what do _you_ think he’s thinking about?” Lars asked eager to hear Cliff’s opinion. Cliff was a year ahead of them and had graduated high school last year. Kirk, James, and Lars tended to look up to him like an older brother. He always seemed to have an answer for everything.

Cliff took one glance at Kirk’s doe-eyed dreamy expression and knew exactly what was going on. “More like _who_ he’s thinking about. He’s clearly crushing on someone.”

“What?!” Lars exclaimed loud enough to startle Kirk out of his daydream. Lars turned towards Kirk. “You’re in love and you didn’t tell us?” Lars pouted dramatically and crossed his arms across his chest.

Kirk looked at Lars wide-eyed. He opened his mouth to protest.

“Don’t even start with me, Hammet,” Lars interrupted before Kirk could start denying anything. “We know you’re in love and you have to tell me who it is, or I won’t give you your comics back.” Lars stuck his nose in the air indignantly and crossed his arms.

Kirk sighed internally. Unfortunately, he knew Lars was being completely serious. He could probably get James and Cliff to forget about the whole thing, but Lars would be persistent and really would follow through with his threats. Stupid Danish brat.

“I’m not in love,” Kirk said. He could sense Lars was about to start objecting and held up a finger to quiet him. “I just like him is all.”

“Like who?” James asked around a mouthful of potato chips. He and Cliff had broken into the snacks while Lars had thrown his mini meltdown.

Kirk couldn’t think of a way to avoid telling them. Maybe it wasn’t a big deal anyways? Kirk knew that Cliff thought Alyssa Milano was “fucking sexy” and that Lars had dreamed about touching his physics teachers boobs before. Who cares if he liked Jason?

“Jason,” Kirk mumbled. He studied his shoes as he waited for a reaction from his friends.

James spoke up after a beat of silence. “Jason Reily?” He wrinkled his nose. “Why do you like him? Ow!” Cliff had punched him in the shoulder. “I mean, oh, cool! He’s… nice I guess.” James tried and failed to be supportive of Kirk’s crush.

“No,” Kirk said. He really didn’t feel like discussing this. He dragged his hand down his face. “Jason Newsted.”

“Oh, I know him.” Cliff said. “He’s cool,” he said nodding at Kirk. Kirk smiled at him in gratitude.

“No, he’s not,” James said, turning towards Cliff. “He plays football and he’s definitely straight dude.” He turned back to Kirk at the end of his sentence.

“How do you know?” Cliff asked.

“Wait, who’s Jason Newhead? Lars whined, tugging on James’s shirt.

“Newsted,” James corrected. “And because I just do, Cliff.”

“Wait, is Jason the one whose friends with Aaron?"

“Yes, along with half of the student body.”

“You don’t know anything.”

“Fuck you! Lars, he has reddish hair.”

“Oh! Jason Newsted! Yeah, he could be gay.”

“See! Ha!”

“Shut up Lars!”

Kirk could only shake his head as his friends continued to bicker about who Jason was and the legitimacy of James’s gaydar. Kirk felt a bit foolish for thinking they would just quietly accept who his crush was and move on. Kirk’s friends never did _anything_ quietly. That was kind of their thing. This was going to be one hell of a band practice.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! I finally gave Jason a personality. Hope y'all enjoy! :)

Although Jason didn’t seem to happy with their meetings at the start, Kirk got the feeling that Jason was warming up to the tutoring sessions. As the weeks went by Jason and Kirk fell into a comfortable routine. Kirk would walk Jason through a previously failed test and then help with whatever homework had been assigned that day. Jason would ask questions and complain good-naturedly in between Kirk’s nervous math-related ramblings.

Jason even started to talk to Kirk outside of the library. It started with small waves when the two boys passed each other in the halls (the first time it happened Kirk was shocked). Eventually though, Jason must have figured out they had the same lunch and he would be waiting outside Ms. Dayton’s classroom for Kirk. Kirk figured he must be in a class nearby. The two of them would walk to the cafeteria together, Jason blabbing on and on about nothing in particular and Kirk trying his hardest to appear calm, cool, and collected. 

Once they got to the cafeteria, they would quickly part ways. Jason bidding goodbye to Kirk and headed to one of the tables occupied by all the other jocks and popular kids and Kirk would silently head over to where James and Lars sat waiting to give him shit about his “hot new boyfriend”.

Kirk didn’t quite understand why Jason continued to talk to him. Most people stopped trying with Kirk once they realized how quiet and awkward the boy was. But not Jason. And within a week Kirk and Jason were actually having conversations between classes. They talked about movies and television (something which Kirk was very fond of) and Kirk even found out that Jason liked comic books. This did nothing to help with Kirk’s crush on Jason at all. Now he not only liked him because of his devilish good looks but also because he was an awesome person.

Thursday afternoon, studying in the library felt completely different from the weeks prior. There was no uncomfortableness between the two boys and the tutoring session was full of Jason making terrible jokes and Kirk trying to stifle his laughter while attempting to go over the Pythagorean Theory. 

“Why do you do that?” Jason asked after telling a particularly bad joke.

“Do what?” Kirk tilted his head to the side, confusion written across his face.

“You always cover your mouth when you smile or laugh,” Jason said.

Kirk didn’t know how to answer that. He just shrugged.

“Well,” Jason said, smiling fondly at Kirk, “I think you shouldn’t.” He paused. “I bet your smile is beautiful.”

Kirk just about suffered an aneurism. He opened and closed his mouth, trying to find something to say in response.

Jason smiled, looked down at his paper and asked “So, _c_ would equal fifteen?”

****

When Kirk packed up his things that afternoon, he was surprised to see Jason waiting for him. This was new. Jason had never waited for him before. He always left in somewhat of a rush and Kirk would stay in the library and check out if the school had gotten any more Stephen King novels. Kirk finished putting away his books hurriedly and started his walk out of the library with Jason. He would skip his book browsing today. Jason even held the door open for him, an action that caused Kirk to practically swoon.

Kirk felt small standing next to Jason. Jason not only had a couple inches of height on Kirk, but his time spent on the football and wrestling teams had made his body toned and muscular. Kirk on the other hand, was stick-thin. Kirk tried not to focus on this or what Jason would look like shirtless.

As they exited the school, Kirk veered toward the crosswalk out of habit.

“Where are you going?” Jason asked. “The parking lot is this way,” he said jerking his thumb behind him. 

“I don’t have a car,” Kirk admitted. “I normally just walk.” Kirk didn’t know why he felt so ashamed telling this to Jason. He liked walking for the most part. Unless the weather was really bad, which was rare for California, he enjoyed being able to spend some time outside in the sun. Something about Jason made him feel self-conscious though. Maybe it was because he thought Jason was so awesome, he felt lame in comparison. Maybe it was that he wanted to impress Jason. Either way, he wished he could stop being so damn nervous around him. 

Jason didn’t seem to care that Kirk was without a car though. “Oh, that’s cool. I can give you a ride though if you want,” he offered.

Part of Kirk’s mind screamed for him to accept the ride and the other part told him to run. Riding in the car with Jason just equated to more time to potentially make a fool of himself. Riding in the car with Jason also meant more time study Jason’s handsome features as well. Kirk was torn and Jason seemed to sense this.

“It’s not a big deal,” Jason said. He smiled gently. He could sense Kirk’s anxiety.

“Okay,” Kirk said and followed behind Jason to the parking lot like a lost puppy.

Jason drove a pretty nice car and listened to pretty good music too. _Great, he really is perfect_ , Kirk thought as Diamondhead came through the car speakers.

“Alright, where do you live?” Jason asked bobbing his head to the music as he pulled out of the school parking lot.

“Oh, you can just take me to my friend’s house. I have band practice.” He looked over at Jason to gauge his reaction. He hoped he was impressed.

“Really?” Jason asked, raising his eyebrows. “I didn’t peg you as a musician. Who’s in your band? Anyone I’d know?”

Kirk smiled to himself. Jason actually appeared interested in his band! “Uh maybe, Lars Ulrich-”

“The Swedish kid, right?” Jason interrupted.

“Danish,” Kirk corrected. “Turn left here,” he instructed. He continued on, “James Hetfield, and Cliff Burton. He graduated last year.”

“Oh yeah, yeah, I know Cliff. He’s a nice dude.” Jason said turning into the neighborhood Kirk directed him to.

“Yeah, he is,” Kirk agreed. He didn’t know what else to say, but he didn’t want the conversation to end. “I play guitar.”

Jason looked at him in a way that made Kirk’s stomach flip-flop around. Like he really cared about everything Kirk was saying. “You’ll have to play for me some time,” he said, and it looked like he actually meant it. Kirk gave him a shy smile and nodded, ducking his head in hopes of hiding his blush-stained cheeks. 

Jason pulled up to the front of Lars’s driveway. He parked the car and swiveled in his seat to fully face Kirk.

“I have a game tomorrow night,” he said. His voice dropped down in volume. “You should come.”

Kirk felt a shiver run up his spine and nodded vigorously. “Okay,” he said, his voice finally catching up to the rest of his body.

“Yeah?” Jason seemed pleased at Kirk’s answer. “I’ll be looking for you then.”

Kirk, once again, nodded. This time he couldn’t even muster up a verbal response. He clambered out of Jason’s car and offered him a hesitant smile before closing the door. Jason waved goodbye and pulled away.

“How was your tutoring session?” Lars teased when he opened the front door for Kirk. Kirk couldn’t control the smile creeping onto his face. Lars only had to look at Kirk’s face for a moment to tell something had happened. 

“Tell me everything.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all enjoy this one! Thanks for all the kudos and comments. They mean a lot!

“What number is he again?” Lars asked the following night, craning his neck upwards to try and spot Jason.

“Twenty-nine,” Kirk responded. He too scanned the football field for any sign of Jason.

The game had just started, and Kirk and Lars were completely at a loss as to what was happening. Sports had never been Kirk’s strong suit and Lars had only ever concerned himself with the rules for tennis. James, thankfully, understood the game and filled them in on what was happening. 

“He’s right there,” James informed the other two, pointing towards Jason’s uniform-clad figure, “He’s a center. That means he snaps the ball back to the quarterback.”

Lars nodded sagely, feigning understanding.

The game continued on with James occasionally commenting on the plays or the current standings of the game. Kirk tried his best to listen but was too focused on drooling over Jason and the way his tight football uniform accentuated his butt and thighs. 

The game went by entirely too quick for Kirk who could have watched Jason working up a sweat all day if he was being honest with himself. Kirk’s school had unfortunately lost the game and the students were filing out of the bleachers and into parking lot, headed off to god knows what.

Kirk and James and Lars (Cliff had a date and couldn’t go, the bastard) were headed back to Lars’s house after the game. They walked through the parking lot, dodging cars and bodies trying to remember where Lars had parked. Lars babbled on about some history project he had to do while James pretend to care, and Kirk pretended to listen. Kirk was all too focused on his disappointment of not getting to talk to Jason. Jason had said he would look for Kirk, but Kirk guessed that Jason was too busy focusing on the game to notice him gawking from the sidelines.

“Kirk! Kirk, wait up!”

Kirk, Lars, and James turned simultaneously to see Jason running across the parking lot towards them. The three of them paused their walking and waited for Jason. Lars snickered and pinched Kirk, James sighed, and Kirk wrung his hands nervously.

Jason caught up to them quickly and greeted them. “Hey, you came!” he said to Kirk, smiling. He turned to James and Lars. “I’m Jason. Kirk helps me out with math.”

Jason was still wearing his grass-stained green and white football uniform, his auburn curls were plastered to his forehead with sweat, and he was still slightly out of breath from running across the parking lot. Kirk thought he looked like an angel.

Jason continued on. “Well, me and a bunch of other people always head over to Pat’s Diner after the game. Do you guys want to come?” The question was stated as a group invitation, but Jason looked at Kirk the entire time.

“Oh, well, I,” Kirk looked back towards James and Lars, silently pleading for help, “I don’t know.”

Lars cut in quickly. “James and I have a project to work on, but Kirk can join you! He’d love to go out with you!”

Kirk begged for God to smite him. 

“He doesn’t mean go _out_ out with you,” Kirk hurriedly explained to Jason. “He just means like, like go out, like to someplace. Not like on a date or anything. I wouldn’t- he doesn’t mean that.” 

Jason listened to Kirk’s rushed explanation with a bemused smile. Kirk kicked himself.

_Great, now he thinks I want to go on a date with him_ , Kirk thought. Which he did, but Jason didn’t need to know that.

“I get it,” Jason replied easily, seeming unfazed by Kirk’s words. “I can give you a ride. I’m just gonna go take a shower real quick. I’ll be like five minutes tops. I’ll meet you by my car. I’m parked over there,” he said, pointing across the lot.

While Jason ran off in the direction of the school locker room, Kirk turned around and punched Lars in the arm. Hard.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“For embarrassing me! Why did you say that?”

“I think you embarrassed yourself just fine,” James said, laughing, “At least now you get to go out with him.”

“We’re not going out!”

Lars giggled. “Yeah, we heard.”

“Fuck you.”

****

Jason wasn’t lying when he said he would be quick. Kirk had only been sitting on the curb by Jason’s car for a minute before Jason reappeared freshly showered and donning jeans and a t-shirt.

Kirk stood and brushed the invisible dust from his pants as Jason greeted him once again that night.

“Hey, you ready to go?” he asked, unlocking the car.

Kirk nodded and climbed into the passenger’s seat. He put on his seatbelt while Jason fiddled with the radio. Kirk fidgeted in his seat and tried to think of something to say. This past week he had been able to talk to Jason with such ease (well, with minor difficulty but that was kind of as good as it got with Kirk), but tonight felt different. Maybe it was because of Lars and James’s teasing or that deep down Kirk knew this was the closest thing to a date he’d ever get with Jason. He couldn’t think of anything clever to say, so he opted to sit there silently and bounce his leg up and down while Jason pulled out of the parking lot.

Jason looked over at him and noticed his obvious discomfort. Kirk was now looking out the window at the passing trees. He seemed sad to Jason.

“Are you alright?” Jason asked gently, capturing Kirk’s attention.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, I just,” Kirk paused his stammering and let out a deep breath. “I’m just nervous is all,” he admitted to Jason. He finally turned from the window and met Jason’s gaze.

Jason’s face softened and he turned his focus back to the road. “Oh. I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” Kirk asked. “What for?” What could Jason possibly have to be sorry for?

“Well, Kelly said I should probably tone it down around you.”

“Kelly?” Kirk frowned. Who was Kelly? Did Jason have a girlfriend? And was Jason talking about Kirk with his girlfriend?

“Yeah, he said that I’m probably scaring you off,” Jason said. He chuckled then sighed. “So, I’m sorry if I make you nervous. I know I can be a bit much sometimes. I just wanted to get to know you better.” Jason pulled into the parking lot of Pat’s Diner as he finished his explanation.

Kirk was surprised for many reasons. First being that Kelly was a boy, second being the fact that Jason wanted to get to know him and, third being that Jason thought he was doing something wrong. 

“I don’t think you’re too much,” Kirk said, trying to squash the idea that he made Kirk uncomfortable. “I think you’re just the right amount,” he said. This caused Jason to smile one of his beautiful toothy grins. Kirk smiled at him in return before continuing. “I always thought I was being too quiet anyways.”

Jason laughed and swung his arm around Kirk’s shoulders, a move that should have been difficult to do whilst sitting in the front seats of a car, but Jason made it look smooth and effortless. “Nah, it’s cute when you get all shy,” Jason said, tugging on one of Kirk’s curls. Almost as quickly as it happened, Jason’s arm left Kirk’s shoulders. 

“C’mon,” Jason said, opening his door. “I can introduce you to Kelly.”

Kirk smiled and nodded, not feeling so nervous anymore, but now missing the feeling of Jason’s arm around him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter! Thanks so much for all the kudos and comments! Hope you guys enjoyed this fic. Thanks for reading!

“Guys, this is Kirk. Kirk, these are my friends Kelly and Eric.” Jason gestured to his friends as he introduced Kirk to the two guys sitting in the booth.  
Kirk waved and greeted them with a polite hello.

Eric, the boy with long, feathery brown hair and clad in a tight leather jacket nodded at Kirk. “Sup?”

Kelly grinned at Kirk and Jason. Kirk thought he looked a little bit like the Cheshire Cat.

“Oh, hi. Jason talks about you all the time.” Kelly’s grin only got wider as he spoke. He turned to face Jason fully. “He’s the cute tutor, right? Or was it pretty?”

“I think it was both,” Eric interjected.

Kirk looked over at Jason whose cheeks were now quite red and was glaring daggers at his friends. 

Jason reached down and tugged at Kirk’s wrist. “Okay, well, we’re going to go sit very far away now. Bye,” Jason said quickly. He began to lead Kirk to an empty table near the back of the restaurant. Kirk could hear Eric and Kelly laughing raucously behind them.

“Sorry about them,” Jason said. He pulled out a chair for Kirk before taking the seat across from him. 

Kirk smiled at the chivalrous gesture and sat down. “It’s okay. My friends are assholes too.”

Jason laughed loudly at that which caused Kirk to giggle as well. Jason just had that effect on him. Also, his laugh was what Kirk assumed angels singing sounded like. It was just that gorgeous.

The pair fell into conversation as they ate their food. Kirk spoke animatedly about the Lord of The Rings trilogy and Jason chowed down on his second cheeseburger. Yes, Jason had ordered two meals just for himself. Kirk found himself smiling as he explained the difference between hobbits and dwarves to Jason who was listening intently and nodding along and also stuffing his face. 

Jason ate like an animal. Like an animal that hadn’t been fed in weeks. Or years. Ketchup stained the corners of his mouth and grease dribbled down his chin. Kirk couldn’t believe that he found it all so endearing. God, he really was quite pathetic, wasn’t he?

Jason wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Kirk stared at the small smear of ketchup that stayed on his face.

“Um, you got a little,” Kirk said, gesturing to his own mouth.

Jason promptly stuck his tongue out to lick the spot away much to Kirk’s amusement. “Did I get it?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Kirk said. “You got it.”

Jason raised his arms in mock victory and beamed at Kirk. Then, he seemed to remember something and paused, his smile falling. “Oh shit, I did that all wrong, didn’t I?” he asked, lowering his arms.

“What do you mean?” Kirk said. 

“Well, It’s like in all those movies. I’m supposed to keep missing it-”

“Why would you do that?” Kirk interrupted, confused.

“Because,” Jason said. “It’d be like the _movies_ , Kirk. I wouldn’t be able to get it so then you’d have to get it. So, you’d get real close to me and then look into my eyes and then,” Jason paused, “you’d kiss me.”

Kirk sat back in his seat, dumbfounded. _Jason wanted him to kiss him?_

Jason offered Kirk an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry,” he started. “I figured Kelly and Eric made it pretty obvious that I liked you and I thought I should at least give it a chance. I didn’t mean to make it weird.” Jason sighed, ending his apology. “Are you mad at me?”

It took Kirk a minute to truly process everything Jason was saying. _Jason liked him. Jason wanted to kiss him. This was really happening. Oh my god._

Finally, Kirk spoke. “Do you want a French fry?” he offered, picking one out of his order of fries.

Jason blinked at him. “Um, no, not really.” Jason’s words were long and drawn out. He was clearly confused.

“ _No_. Jason, do you want a fry?” Kirk shook the fry at him. Kirk enunciated each word carefully, trying to get Jason to fully understand what he meant. Apparently, it wasn’t enough.

“No. Kirk, I don’t want a fry.” Jason said, mimicking Kirk’s tone. “Are you just gonna ignore what I said? Because I really think we should probably talk about it.”

“Oh my god, just take the fucking fry!” 

And with that, Kirk dipped the French fry in ketchup, leaned across the table, and proceeded to wipe it across Jason’s lips.

Jason’s eyes widened in surprise, but Kirk spoke before he could open his mouth to say anything.

“You have something on your face,” Kirk rushed out, hoping that Jason finally understood what he was trying to do.

Jason stared at him for a moment, trying to read his face. The ketchup was still smeared haphazardly across his mouth.

“Oh!” he exclaimed, his face lighting up. “Um, let me try and get it.” 

Kirk giggled and rolled his eyes as Jason exaggeratedly wiped every inch of his face except his mouth with his napkin. 

“Did I get it?” he asked Kirk, smiling knowingly.

Kirk could hear the fast-paced drum of his heartbeat in his ears. “Let me,” he said quietly.

Kirk slowly leaned across the table and gently cupped Jason’s chin. He watched as Jason’s eyes fluttered down to look at his lips. He closed his own eyes in anticipation. 

And then he kissed him.


End file.
